Chanson de Geste
by Athena9
Summary: A (sort of) longish poem, written in God-only-knows what kind of meter, from Frodo's POV. It sort of hits on the highlights of the Quest and goes briefly over what happens afterwards. So, anyway. R/R, please! I love you people! :)


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Author Notes: Warning – my friend Jack's reaction was "Aww, ain't that sweet?". I tried not to overdo it – parts that seem a bit extreme (the 'soulmate' thing) will make perfect sense to those who've read One of These Days, with that whole soul-bonding development. Anyway – I'm not sure what kind of meter I've written it in. As you can see, the 2nd and 5th lines rhyme, as do the 3rd and the 4th. I've tried putting the accent on every 3rd syllable, and have found that, in some places, it lands on the 2nd, or the 1st, or whatever. It's easier if you read it aloud. *sighs* *mumbles* Why did I write this, anyway? So, please tell me whatcha think! J Oh, and anyone who's read medieval literature will know that _chanson de geste_ translates literally as a song about a deed (a _heroic_ deed, no less).

Has the world gone mad, of a sudden?

For such a small thing, we're told

That whole nations should fight

'gainst the Lord of the Night –

This small thing, this circle of gold.

~*~

Gandalf says it's no longer safe here,

And we have to leave tonight.

He caught you listening in –

Loyalty was your sin,

And for penance, you join me in flight.

~*~

We've crossed the Brandywine River,

And gone all the distance to Bree;

First, chased by Black Riders,

Now guided by Strider –

Gandalf trusts him. How bad can he be?

~*~ 

Shrieking cries, and the Ringwraiths surround us –

A struggle, a knife in the dark –

Burning cold, and I scream,

Hear your voice, as in dreams –

__

There's nought but a cold, white mark.

~*~

I can't keep up the fight any longer;

In a moment, I'll slip and be gone.

The warmth of your breath

Recalls me from death

As you whisper, _Hold on, love. Hold on._

~*~

A nightmare, a fever, I waken

In a huge bed in Rivendell,

And the look on your face

Demands my embrace.

I smile; you smile. _All's well._

~*~

How comes it that I'm on this journey?

And why did the Quest fall to me?

I know _I_ made the choice

By raising my voice –

Was I blind, that I did not see?

~*~

Do I think that I'm some sort of hero?

That I have the strength to win through?

Thank the gods, you're beside me

To strengthen me, guide me –

I'm sure I'd be lost without you.

~*~

Snow now, and ice, and I'm freezing,

With a skin-biting, bone-numbing cold.

So we're leaving the snow,

To the mines now, we go;

Khazad-Dum, the Dwarf kingdom of old.

~*~

Why did it have to happen?

And to _Gandalf_, out of us all?

The wisest and best of us,

Strength to the rest of us –

Why did _he_ have to fall?

~*~

She fills a basin with water

That glints in the starry light,

And visions, I'm shown,

The future I've known;

Restless fear in the silent night.

~*~

I come to you looking for comfort,

Seeking the warmth your arms,

So gentle and strong,

Make me hunger and long, 

While keeping me safe from harm.

~*~

The Ring has corrupted his thoughts, now;

He leapt at me to take it away –

Though, at first, he tried

To persuade me. I cried,

__

I know what it is you would say!

~*~

Can you forgive and forget me?

Can I leave without saying goodbye?

To the bottom, you're plunging,

I'm desperately lunging –

Your hand! I begin to cry.

~*~

__

Sam! What on earth are you doing?

Don't climb down when we have a rope,

Whose milky-white light

Lifts the blindness of night;

In whose strength I must now put my hope.

~*~

We've no other choice but to follow;

Please, Sam, you _must,_ for my sake!

You nod and you sigh –

I can see in your eyes

You still think it's a bad mistake.

~*~

__

I don't, I can't trust him, Frodo,

My whole body's screamin' it's wrong.

He's a traitor, I know it;

Why wait till he shows it?

Wait till then, an' we've waited too long.

~*~

You're right, of course, and I know it,

But it's not like we have any choice.

And now I find tears

In my eyes when I hear

The bitter distrust in your voice.

~*~

You used to be so much younger,

A naïve and innocent child_._

Now, bloodied and starved,

Exhausted and scarred,

Your pure innocence is defiled.

~*~

Now you trust nothing and no one,

Ever vigilant, though we're alone,

For threats I don't see –

Now no kindness is free

In your eyes. Oh, how wary you've grown!

~*~

Faramir's Men, out of nowhere –

__

What's this? Are they Men or Elves?

Now they're leading us back

Down the old forest-track

And discussing us 'mongst themselves.

~*~

You've thrown your body across mine

And drawn your sharp, steel sword.

It's alright, we can trust him,

For all that he looks grim –

__

Good night, you say, _Captain, m'lord. _

~*~

A hiss, a black form in the shadows.

Your eyes turn dark, and you frown

When for Gollum I plead –

__

Him we may still need –

You would much rather let him drown.

~*~

Does this staircase go up forever?

My knees can't bend anymore.

Somehow, you keep

awake while I sleep,

Though you're just as weary and sore.

~*~

A tunnel, a cavern, a darkness

Darker than I've ever seen.

A stifling climb,

Your hand clasped in mine –

Is this? - it _must_ be a dream.

~*~

Correction: this is a nightmare

Beyond all imaginings; _real._

Distantly, I hear screaming –

It's you; _now_ I'm dreaming.

Ah, god! What's this pain that I feel?

~*~

All our lives, we've hardly been separate,

And now you're leaving me – _Sam!_

Please, my love, no!

Don't leave me, don't go,

Don't strip me of all that I am!

~*~

The light dances dim on the dank walls,

And they're playing some horrible game –

First, throw me around,

Then throw me to the ground,

Then curse me, and do it again.

~*~

They have found it and taken it from me!

All is lost, I give in to despair.

Then your voice, so forlorn

Yet so hopeful – I'm torn.

Should I really believe that it's there?

~*~

Oh, my love! Can you ever forgive me?

This cursed Ring twists what I say! 

I should never have said it –

I'll always regret it,

The pain in your eyes on this day.

~*~

This horrible thirst is the end of us.

Isn't there any water left?

Selflessly,

You give it to me;

I drink it, and leave you bereft.

~*~

If I had the strength, I'd refuse it

And force you to drink it instead.

Your life's more to me

than my own, don't you see?

Without you, I'd already be dead.

~*~

And what happens if you should die also?

Then, in truth, comes my Dawnless Day.

__

I'll take only my share,

Sam; it's only fair

That you should drink, too, I say.

~*~

__

I'll carry you, Frodo, you whisper;

Blood springs to your lips as you speak.

__

No, my love! I should cry,

But my voice is too dry,

And my protest rings hollow and weak.

~*~

Step by step, you bring me to the mountain;

Step by step, as I cling to your back –

Red with blood, torn by whips

And my desperate grip;

Your footsteps are bloodstained black.

~*~

I leave you behind me with Gollum;

The last gasp, the finalmost stretch!

__

Mercy! he pleads,

And against your dark need

For revenge, you spare the sick wretch.

~*~

The Ring's rage at your mercy consumes me,

And shatters my will to resist,

And in claiming me,

Finds the terrible means

To control, to destroy, to exist.

~*~

__

Precioussss! he cries, and he's on me,

And for a split second, all's lost –

When all's said and done

And the War's finally won,

One finger seems but a small cost.

~*~

I feel my Self falling with him

Into the dark fires of Doom.

But your will holds me fast,

holds me strongly. At last!

You've saved me; my mind is my own.

~*~

Oh, Sam! I'm so glad you're with me!

The Ring's vanquished, the Quest at its end!

My mind is whole,

And my heart and my soul –

I owe you my life, my friend.

~*~

My blood pulses over your fingers

As we trek down the side of Mount Doom;

You're holding my hand.

We turn from this land

Of death and destruction towards home.

~*~

You stagger, and stumble against me;

One more step, and you fall to your knees.

You never thought twice

Of your self-sacrifice

All those weeks. Now it's killing you; please –

~*~

__

Please, Sam, if you can hear me –

And I pray you're not already gone –

My life, my soul

Who kept me whole,

My one, my only, _hold on_.

~*~

Hold on, as you've held this whole journey,

Your tenacity seeing us through

the weeks? months? years?

Who knows or cares? –

You held me, and now I'll hold you.

~*~

Blood is running over your forehead

And into your beautiful eyes.

How strange; no fear

do I feel, kneeling here –

Are all men this calm when they die?

~*~

__

The Eagles! The Eagles are coming!

Such strange and unplacable words –

Now the ground's disappearing,

And swiftly we're nearing

The clouds, borne aloft by the birds.

~*~

__

Pain, and I scream in anguish

As the healers move us apart –

Don't the fools realize

That our very _lives_

Are one? and the beat of our hearts?

~*~

Your thoughts are weak and fractured,

And filled with a mist of black.

__

Don't leave me, don't die,

I silently cry

To you, _oh, my love! Come back!_

~*~

I wake and see you beside me,

Still asleep – but not dying, nor dead.

Bone thin you are,

And covered in scars;

Your hands cradle your golden-haired head.

~*~

__

He'll heal, he'll heal, won't he Gandalf?

Say yes, please say yes to me; lie!

We made it through Hell,

He *has* to get well!

If he won't – Gandalf, don't let him die!

~*~

Your voice is still cracked and roughened

by weeks without water, but true.

I waken once more to see

Your eyes, clear and green,

Your smile, your perfect face, _you._

~*~

And now there are speeches and stories,

And poems, and ballads, and songs,

And toasts to-your-health,

and your life, and your wealth –

How boring. Already I long

~*~

For the silent trees of the forest,

Your soft lips, your warm embrace –

No ballad or poem

Sings more truly of home

Than the love that we share in this place.

~*~

We've been through so much together –

Despair and darkness and pain

That might've torn me in two

If I hadn't had you,

And by you, I'm made whole again.

~*~

They're all of them singing my praises,

As if you'd done nothing at all –

You shrug and you smile,

And refuse the whole while

To drink of jealousy's gall.

~*~

Now back in the Shire, it's different,

And I like it better this way,

To see you, so ignored,

Here loved, there adored,

Your fair cheeks scarlet with praise.

~*~

I love the Shire, but I can't stay here;

It's ceased being home to me,

And we're growing apart.

Ah! The ache in my heart

When I think of the Sundering Seas!

~*~

Those wide, dark miles of water

That will surely sunder our bonds;

Too wide to be crossed

By our love and our loss;

Too far are the lands beyond.

~*~

You want a wife and a family,

And I'm not sure that I belong.

I should leave, just go,

You won't ever know

How I feel – but what if I'm wrong?

~*~

And now that we're here, I see it;

I look into your eyes, and I know –

For all the pain in my heart,

We weren't growing _apart –_

Oh, my love! you were letting me _go_.

~*~

There's a saying I'd almost forgotten,

__

If you love something, set it free.

But it hurts too much

To lose your touch,

To release you, as you released me. 

~*~

You did it for love, I can see that,

And it cost you incredible pain.

Yet there's hope in your eyes

That hasn't quite died;

One thought – _Will I see you again?_

~*~

One thought, that I'd never thought of,

And your hope blazes bright in my heart.

I nod and you smile

So brilliantly while

The ship sails away – we're apart.

~*~

I'm holding the portrait you scratched me

Years ago, on your side of the Sea;

And I sleep every night

Holding your blanket tight,

Weeping at bittersweet memory.

~*~

Gandalf has told me you're coming,

Now that timeless years have passed;

Coming back to me,

Back over the Sea,

Back into my arms, at last. 

~*~

I watch as your ship approaches

On the swells of white seafoam.

It nears – you're here!

After sixty-three years

Apart, now we're finally home.


End file.
